India Stocks Rebound; Reliance Gas Field

Mayank Mehta
22 Dec, 2009
New York City

Mumbai stocks increased after resource and telecom stocks advanced. Reliance Industries discovered third gas field in Bay of Bengal field that may be as large as the first field of 10 trillion cubic feet. State controlled oil companies will get cash subsidies rather than bonds from the central government.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Mumbai stocks increased after resource and telecom stocks advanced. Reliance Industries discovered third gas field in Bay of Bengal field that may be as large as the first field of 10 trillion cubic feet. State controlled oil companies will get cash subsidies rather than bonds from the central government.[/R]

The Sensex index in India increased 90.80 or 0.5% to 16,692.00 and CNX Nifty index rose 33.25 or 0.6% to 4,985.85. Among the Sensex index 30 stocks, 17 rose and 13 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,687 stocks advanced, 1,116 declined and 84 were unchanged.

Banking and realty stocks gained. Shares of public sector oil marketing companies rose after Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said the government may offer cash instead of bonds to state-run oil firms for compensating them for selling fuel at lower than market price.

The sharp surge in food prices reflects the impact of the drought and inefficient distribution, which could not be addressed by monetary policy, the deputy head of India''s Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said. He added while the increase in food prices was expected, it was a concern food prices rose an annual 20% in early December but are expected to decline in 2010.

Rupee edged higher 4 paisa to 46.81 against one dollar.

Gainers & Losers

Aban Offshore Limited gained 4.0% to Rs 1,207 after the company announced that Sinvest AS, its wholly owned subsidiary, has redeemed the bonds having a principal amount aggregating to Norwegian Kroner 1 billion or Rs 800 crores, including accrued interest till Dec 22.

Aegis Logistics Limited increased 9.1% to Rs 202.25 after the company board agreed to acquire Shell Gas (LPG) India Pvt. Ltd. Shell has gas infrastructure facility at Pipavav Port and a LPG filling plant in Gujarat and acts as a distributor and marketer of LPG.

Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Limited gained 1.2% to Rs 67.95 and plans to raise Rs 650 crore through a stock sale by February 2010, a banker involved in the process told the Financial Express.

Aurionpro Solutions Limited gained 1.3% to Rs 274.20 after the software developer said a promoter hiked his stake in the firm.

Golden Tobacco Ltd climbed 0.05% to Rs 109.50 after the company''s board approved developing property at Vile Parle in Mumbai.

ICICI Bank Limited advanced 1.7% to Rs 824.00 tracking the gains of 1.3% in New York trading in its stock.

Ispat Industries Limited rose 3.6% to Rs 20.10 after the state controlled steelmaker plans to repurchase its debt of Rs 6,500 crore from April 2010.

ITC Limited gained 1.1% to Rs 247.00.

Kavveri Telecom Products Limited increased 1.8% to Rs 63.45 said its subsidiary signed a telecom infrastructure building contract with one of the five largest telecom operators but did not name the carrier.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited rose 2.0% to Rs 313.15 after the company said Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has hiked its stake in the company.

MRF Limited fell 1.2% to Rs 6,092.80 after the domestic producer of automotive tires said full-year sales rose 12.3% to Rs 5,668.3 crore from Rs 5,046.4 crore a year ago. Net profit for the full-year rose 75% to Rs 250.8 crore compared to net loss of Rs 143.4 crore a year ago.

Mukand Limited the manufacturer of alloy and stainless steel products rose 0.9% to Rs 61.50.

NTPC Limited increased 4.2% to Rs 217.00 and separately the company said that it is experiencing delays in securing permit for its block of coal mines.

PBA Infrastructure Limited added 2.4% to Rs 72.10 after the company secured an order of Rs 145.02 crore.

Reliance Industries Limited added 0.3% to Rs 1,019.65 said it has made a third successive gas discovery in the D3 deep-sea block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, off the east coast.

The earlier estimate suggested the gas reserve of 9.5 trillion cubic feet in the D3 block released by Hardy Exploration and Production India Inc based on the estimates from energy consultants Gaffney, Cline & Associates Ltd. The gas field in the third field will be just about the size of 10 trillion cubic feet of recoverable reserves in the D6 block.

State Bank of India rose 0.8% to Rs 2,166.05 and the bank and SKS Microfinance has agreed on a partnership for the integration of its branches and accounts.

Speciality Papers Limited added 7.5% to Rs 21.40 said that the company has secured export order from Oman, of around 2,000 tons.

Sun TV Network Limited advanced 0.5% to Rs 331.00 and the company plans to restructure its distribution business and segregate its international business from the domestic markets.